Tyler Toffoli reflects on his time as a Montreal Canadien

It's been a sad day for Montreal Canadiens fans, but given that the team is in the midst of a rebuild, trades like this are going to happen.

The Canadiens announced earlier today that they've traded Tyler Toffoli to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Tyler Pitlick, prospect Emil Heineman, a 2022 first round pick and a 2023 fifth round pick.

Before departing to Calgary, Toffoli took some time with Sportsnet's Eric Engels to reflect on his time in Montreal and being a Canadien, something he felt was meant to be.

"I loved every second of it. I know during COVID and everything, it's not been the same, but for the brief little time it opened up at the start of the year and having that fans back was incredible. And Cat obviously loves it. She's upset right now, but she understands it's part of the business. It's going to be hard leaving, but I'm going to be even more excited every time I come back into the city," Toffoli said.

The Scarborough native led the Canadiens in goals (28) and points (44) in his first year with the team. He also scored an extremely important goal during the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. In overtime of Game four in their second round series against Winnipeg, Toffoli scored the series winner, securing Montreal their first third round appearance since 2014.

Just before their first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toffoli wrote an article in The Players' Tribune saying that he felt he was meant to be a Montreal Canadien.

"It sucks leaving. It's one of those things where, talking with Cat before even signing here, I told them I wanted to sign a long-term deal and I want to be there and I want to win there. Last year was a great season and this year it just felt like everything that could go wrong basically has gone wrong. Leaving here is upsetting, especially because my wife loves it here too. It's tough, but it's part of the business and I understand it. I understood it when Berge got fired and then Dom, the dominoes were falling and I'm just one of them to go down," Toffoli added.

Just caught up with Tyler Toffoli. More coming in this thread ⁦@Sportsnet⁩ pic.twitter.com/uHLpTKIBaW— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) February 14, 2022

Last one here, and this one will pull on the heartstrings for @CanadiensMTL fans @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/NqyvIY38Au— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) February 14, 2022

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